Monday, March 12, 2007

More Fights with the Libertarians - Smoking Ordinance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------It was a public service announcement and you guys were given an opportunity to provide information to include in it.

However, the only "evidence" you guys could come up with was anecdotal and not provable. It is ILLEGAL to include un-researched anecdotal information in a PSA.

You also know that the only real research information on economic impact in Anchorage was done after the original Ordinance went through in 2000 per an agreement between the city and affected businesses.The conclusion:

The question that was critical for the Research Team to answer was:Was there a significantly large, negative impact on the businesses that were required to move from allowing smoking to being non-smoking as a result of this ordinance?

There was no indication in the data that such an impact occurred.

You guys are making this one issue the basis of your campaigns, yet you can't come up with any real evidence to prove your arguments.